enter hugo chavez. when he became president, he immediately sought the blessing of his hero, fidel castro. association with castro gave chavpz revolutionary street cred. in return, he's virtually written chavez a blank check. according to a recent study, caracas ships oil to cuba at discounted prices every day, accounting for 60% of the island's oil demand. in total, venezuela's various types of aid to cuba is said to up add up to nearly $5 billion a year. havana returns the favor by sending tens of thousands of doctors and nurses the other way. it doesn't sound like a fair trade. in cuba there are signs the leadership realizes it need to wean itself off of venezuela's largess. the younger broer, raul, is now president and trying to seek out investment from china, india, and brazil. but structurally not much has changed in cuba since 1991. the island nation is still run on socialist principles that have produced shortages, black markets and mass poverty. imagine what happens to cuba without venezuela's